


Play Dead

by JinxWinx



Category: Incredibles (Pixar Movies)
Genre: Angst, Backstory, Death, Gen, This one will be shorter I think, a bit of an AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-27
Updated: 2018-09-27
Packaged: 2019-07-18 04:19:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16110668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JinxWinx/pseuds/JinxWinx
Summary: Winston thought they were cursed, Evelyn figured it was just really, really bad luck.Either way they lost their parents in rapid succession and neither of them are willing to admit how long the side effects have lingered.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> All characters belong to Disney/Pixar.

It was thrilling, the pounding of the music, the chatter of the crowd, it all spoke to his soul. No matter how many times Dicker grumbled about the party being a mistake Winston couldn’t see things from the man’s point of view. How could it be a bad idea to see the supers off, to thank them for their service before they were forced underground?

Winston was happy to see his friends one last time before everything fell to pieces. The way the government was treating them wasn't fair but nothing could be done, they had tried everything but the public wasn’t letting up and Mr. Incredible’s court proceedings weren’t helping.

Winston had brought each of the supers gifts they were insignificant really, but he hoped they would keep them and remember somebody cared even if that someone was a fifteen year old who technically shouldn’t be working anyway. Winston sat between Blazestone and another super he didn’t recognize, he drank four sodas and listened to Blazestone ramble on at the speed of light. When the clock struck one Blazestone herded him outside and into her broken down little car, Dicker wouldn’t be happy about that. Blazestone drove like a blind bat, fast and haphazardly but Winston didn’t mind, normally he did but he felt oddly relaxed despite Blazestone’s driving, he was starting to think someone spiked his soda.

“Did you enjoy the party, Winston?” Blazestone asked quickly. 

Winston grinned at her, he had always liked the way she said his name, a little too quickly almost unintelligible but with a certain twang that made it sound unique.

“Yes Julie,” Winston said, he’d been calling her that much longer than he probably should have.

Blazestone smiled at him and nodded. “It’s a pity we won't- Ah well never mind that glumness we should do this again my little Pumpkin!”

‘’That would be great, maybe I can get my father to come this time,” Winston said.

Blazestone looked at him strangely.

Winston shrugged uncomfortably. “He’s a bit bummed right now,”

“Yeah, yeah we all are. That’s normal- Well I think it is, but you never know right? Oh, why didn’t Dicker come, Pumpkin?”

Winston blinked trying to keep track of her ranting, he decided to respond to her last question.

“I’m not sure Julie,” Winston said.

“Ah, he’s a sourpuss sometimes anyway! But I would have liked to see ‘em one more time!” Blazestone chirped. “He knows we’re going away right? Of course, he does, don’t answer that, it was stupid.”

Before Winston could respond there was a muffled bang that sounded like a cough.

“Did you hear that?”

“Sounded like backfire!” Blazestone said smartly. “Actually a bit louder than backfire! There is goes again!”

Winston shrugged.

“So where are you headed?”

“Home after this,” Blazestone said.

“That’s not exactly what I meant,”

Most of the supers were leaving town, running from the painful memories of a town they once protected. 

“Ooo, I’ll be around, Dicker said I should work on my communication skills or whatever, so I’ll be doing that for a while, it’s something to keep me busy right? After that I don’t know, my parents have a farm upstate so maybe something out there,” Blazestone mumbled. “Who knows.”

“The world is your oyster right?” Winston said hopefully.

“No, no, no, it was my oyster. Now it’s kind the leftovers of what was inside of the oyster ya’know? But hey I can’t complain,” Blazestone said.

Winston nodded, he recognized the trees looming above his family’s estate and tapped Blazestone’s shoulder quickly.

“I can walk from here, thanks for the ride,” Winston said, his father was probably still depressed and seeing a former super would only make things worse.

“Okie Dokie Pumpkin,” Blazestone said slamming on the breaks and sending Winston flying into the dashboard. “They really need to start building straps or something into these things.”

“Yeah,” Winston groaned. Peeling himself off the dashboard he hopped out of the car and jumped shakily on the asphalt.

“You alright there?” Blazestone asked. “Do you need medical attention? The hospital’s three blocks away and I’m a fast driver!”

“I’m fine, the ground is just a little loose is it?” Winston asked frowning, he felt strange now that he’d stood up.

“Slippery,” Blazestone corrected. “It rained earlier.”

“Right,“ Winston said. “But I’m fine.”

“Get some rest,” Blazestone said. “I’ll see you around.”

Winston waved at her as she drove away. He highly doubted they would be seeing each other again.  
He walked up the driveway yawning widely as he did, he spotted their dog, Coco, running around like a lunatic in the yard, when she spotted Winston she barked loudly, Winston clutched his ears then grabbed Coco by the collar. Evelyn must have left the door open or something or maybe it was their mother, Evelyn was rarely forgetful, he dragged Coco forward she struggled every step of the way until they got to the steps, she barked deeply and wrenched herself free of Winston’s grip. 

Winston held his breath expecting her to run back into the yard, instead she leaped up the stairs in a few short bounds and ran through the open front door.

“Coco,” Winston said crossing his arms, he was happy she went back inside but she was being strangely naughty. He followed her through the door and stepped into the foyer, something crunched underneath his feet and he looked down, glass littered the floor his brain was working slower than usual and he blamed the soda. “Coco, did you do this?”

Coco barked again and Winston followed the sound into the living room and screamed.


	2. Chapter 2

 

At first she’d thought he was dead, not her father, Evelyn had known he was dead as soon as they’d made it into the safe room, she’d accepted he was a dead man as their mother pushed the door closed, she was worried about Winston, he was supposed to be home at twelve, it was nearly one.

_Stupid._ Evelyn found herself thinking as she took a seat on the cold floor, her mother wrapped her arms around her. Evelyn tried not to think about what her father was doing but she did wonder why he had to put his stupid phones so close to the front door even the backup phone was right next to the back door. Evelyn felt betrayed and kind of angry, she was terrified but there was no way she was admitting that.

Though her shaking hands might have given her away.

“It’ll be okay,” Her mother was chanting quietly.

_Fat chance._ Evelyn thought, she leaned against the wall and kneaded her hands together, this was not how she had expected to spend her night, she had been leaning out the window flinging rocks at the boy next door who kept bothering her when he mother yanked her into the safe room.

“He likes you,” her father had said.

Evelyn had snorted, he’d said it like it was supposed to flatter her but he didn’t know Evelyn hated that boy. The boy smelled weird, he wore the same clothes weeks in a row and he tried to sing her stupid songs, but he seemed to like having rocks thrown at him so there was that...

Evelyn promised herself that if she lived to see that boy again, she would throw a really big rock at him, he’d like that she was sure.

“Mom, why is dad out there?” Evelyn asked in a harsh whisper even though she already knew.

“Shh,” Her mother said. “Be quiet.”

“Do you think that boy next door will call the police for us?” Evelyn asked.

Her mother clamped her hand over her mouth and Evelyn sighed, she wrapped her arms around herself and willed her heart to slow down just as it was starting to obey her a loud crack sounded through the house, it was enough to make Evelyn jump, she stared at the door in shock then she looked at her mother’s devastated expression and it felt like a thunderbolt went through her heart.

That was a gunshot.

Evelyn had been preparing herself for it, she told herself there was no point in getting upset, she hated getting upset anyway but she didn’t think the reality of the situation would hurt so much.

There was another bang and Evelyn stood up without thinking, her mother yanked her back down.

“What do you think you’re doing?” She hissed quietly.

“That could be Winston!”Evelyn said pulling away from her mother.

Her mother looked at her with an almost blank expression. “What are you going to do about that now?”

Evelyn went still, staring at her mother in near disbelief but she was right and Evelyn hated that, she folded her arms turning away from her mother and leaned against the wall refusing to look at her.

Gunshots weren’t always fatal, but sometimes they were...

It felt like hours before she heard a shriek that she recognized instantly, she heard it every time she jumped out at Winston in the dark while he was on his way to the bathroom, this time it was her mother who jumped up and ran for the door.

_Hypocrite._ She thought bitterly but Evelyn joined her without a second thought, the safe room was well hidden in narrow hallway, they ran down it in record time as they turned the corner Evelyn yanked one of her father’s hunting guns from the rack on the wall and snapped it into firing position, they skidded to a stop in the living room a few feet in front of Winston and he screamed again, Evelyn looked down and noticed red pooling on the hardwood floor and screamed as well, it blurred in with her mother’s wail of agony.

Evelyn dropped the gun and scampered over to her father’s body, her nightgown was soaked with blood in a matter of seconds but she didn’t care, she grabbed him and tried to turn him over, praying that maybe it wasn’t what it seemed, maybe he’d been hit somewhere else and he was just unconscious, he was too heavy to turn and worst of all he wasn’t breathing, her mother pulled her away dragging her chest down through the puddle of blood, Winston was wailing hysterically, her mother was still screaming, Evelyn twisted away from her mother and knelt on the floor but she didn’t crawl back to her father no matter how much she wanted to, because she knew there was no point, Coco barked angrily at the scene then sat down and faced the wall.

Evelyn stared at her father trying to wrap her mind around what was in front of her and finally she noticed the swinging red phone above him, twisting and twirling without a care in the world.

Evelyn looked away and shut her eyes, she never understood why her father had so much faith in supers, never once had they saved his life, never once had he needed to call on them. Yet he put his life in their hands, it hadn’t made sense to her then and crumpled on the floor Evelyn knew without a shadow of a doubt it never had made sense.

Her father just thought it did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now we get to see things from Evelyn's point of view, I imagine her as kind of a strange teen who was a bit twisted(hence the rock throwing), I do think she was fond of her father though.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a very short chapter, nearly a drabble but too long, it introduces an important character.

The two of them had a brother, an older one. They hadn’t found out about him until they were ten but they’d been ecstatic. As twins, they had an older and younger thing going on, but it wasn’t the same minutes meant little even if Evelyn insisted they did. But years, now those counted. Nelson was a lot older than them, twenty years at least.

He was smart like Evelyn, he tinkered like her too, so Winston figured that came from his father’s side of the family, maybe the social side came from his mother’s.

When their father died, he visited them, he brought candy and toys even though they were too old for toys. Their mother told them to be polite, so they were or at least Winston was, Evelyn just stared at him, she was doing that a lot these days.

Winston got the feeling Nelson didn’t like his and Evelyn’s mother he wanted to ask why but that would be impolite so he didn’t, he watched from afar as Nelson gave their mother annoyed glances and private glares, at the funeral Nelson was even more sullen and Winston wondered if he blamed her for their father’s death or maybe he didn’t like her because she was their father’s second wife. 

Winston had heard the first one was a “harlot”, whatever that meant so he didn’t get why Nelson was upset about that, it was no one’s fault his mother was odd especially not their mother’s fault. Nelson stayed until after the funeral, then he was gone and Winston wasn’t sure if they’d ever see him again.

He wasn’t sure he cared either.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which yet another tragedy occurs.

  
A groan made her open her eyes, the scowl she was wearing deepened and she glanced at the couch across from her.

“Will you stop that?” Evelyn muttered, referring to her brother’s anxious writhing on the love seat in the den.

Winston looked at her with sad eyes, she felt bad for snapping at him and sighed.

“What?” She asked.

“Why does it hurt so bad?”

Evelyn stared at him thinking for a long moment, Winston was looking at her like she had all the answers to this mystery that plagued both of them, she pursed her lips and leaned back on the easy chair. “How should I know? I’m not God.”

“Sorry,”

It had been a month since their father died, a month since they’d found him dead on the foyer floor, a month since the maids had scrubbed the blood off the windows and they had the hardwood floor restained to cover the oddly colored splotches that made their mother turn sheet white. The shock had worn off, and she no longer felt like she’d been struck by a car but the lingering pain was almost worse, they couldn’t walk around in a daze anymore, it was what it was and it hurt worse than anything Evelyn had ever felt. The next day was his birthday and Evelyn wasn’t sure how they were going to make it through that day but she planned on sleeping.

“Where’s mom?” Evelyn asked with another sigh, she didn’t want to talk she wanted to sleep but Winston was a talker, he needed to talk or she was afraid he’d lose his mind.

“I don’t know,” Winston said lowly. “Haven’t seen her since this morning.”

“Should we bring her something to eat?” Evelyn asked.

“She said she didn’t want anything,” Winston said his voice cracking, he sunk into the couch. “But that was earlier.”

“Cereal?” Evelyn asked.

“Alright,”

Winston crawled off the couch his lanky arms hanging at his side, Evelyn pushed off the couch and slung an arm around his shoulders, they walked into the kitchen wordlessly and rooted around the kitchen struggling to find a box of cereal. Winston showed her a box of chocolate puffs, she shrugged and took it from him, their mother would hate it but it was the thought that counted, she poured it in the bowl and added milk.

Evelyn stepped back and looked at it proudly, in her fifteen years never once had she made a bowl of cereal and this one looked so perfect, she gave it to Winston and snatched the flowers out of the vase on the counter top, tacky but presentable. They left the kitchen the milk sloshing over the side of the bowl and the flowers still dripping murky water.

“Did mom say if Nelson was coming back?” Evelyn asked.

“No,” Winston said tiredly. “I don't know if he’s coming back at all.”

“Oh well,” Evelyn said, she didn’t like Nelson too much anyway and he didn’t seem too interested in them either.

Their parents' room was on the second floor in a wide open area with large windows lining every wall Evelyn’s stomach clenched at the sight, fond memories came flooding back to her, all the laughter, giggling and popcorn, all the storms she’d spent camped out there. Winston tightened his grip on her shoulder, he must have felt the same thing.

Winston stepped forward first he sucked in an audible breath and knocked on the door softly, Evelyn tightened her grip on the flowers wondering if their mother would be angry at her for moving them. A few seconds passed and Evelyn rocked back on her heels.

Winston knocked again harder this time. “Mother?”

“Maybe she’s in the bathroom?” Evelyn said with a small shrug, more likely their mother was passed out drunk but she wasn’t going to tell Winston that, he was delicate.

Winston nodded but knocked again, it bordered on banging this time. “Mother!”

Evelyn eased forward joining Winston at his side and pressed her ear against the door listening for the telltale sound of their mother’s drunken snoring. But there was nothing, Evelyn furrowed her brow and wrapped her free hand around the doorknob and turned it. It was unlocked.

Winston looked down at her nervously. “Mother said not to-”

Evelyn shoved the door open, a gust of cold air wrapped around her ankles and she straightened up, the first thing she noticed was the room was strangely gray, she looked up and saw why, the light fixture was hanging by a wire and the only light was coming from a partially drawn window, she looked down and spotted the limp figure hanging halfway off the bed, something hit the floor and shattered and her feet were covered in something wet. She looked down, her feet were covered in cereal and there was a small gash on the top of her left foot, she frowned in confusion.

Winston was already running before Evelyn could connect the bits of information.

“Mama!”

After a second Evelyn dropped the flowers and walked over the squishy mess to the bed where Winston was shaking their mother frantically, Evelyn watched mutely, she felt like she was floating above her body and the air was icy cold, she stretched a hand out and laid it on her mother’s cheek, it was as cold as the air and whiter than it had been that morning when she’d noticed a leftover splotch.

“Mama, please,”

She knew it was Winston talking but it sounded like background noise to her, she traced her finger down her mother’s cheek to her neck and found a thin bloodied makeshift noose. Evelyn’s hand hovered over it before dropping to her side, she stared up at the broken light fixture and pursed her lips tightly, now she understood. Evelyn looked away from their mother’s body and towards Winston who was having the same twitches he was on the couch but they were worse now and Evelyn was concerned he was dying.

Wouldn’t that be grand?

Winston let out a moan and sunk to the floor, Evelyn looked between her mother and her brother and pushed back her hair, she knew she should be upset, she should be in agony but as she stroked Winston’s hair before picking up the phone on their parent’s nightstand she felt nothing even the pain from earlier was gone.

Their father’s death had felt like a truck ran her over. This felt like a train had slammed into her at an impossible speed.

Weightless.

* * *

 

They honored their parents on their father’s birthday for obvious reasons. They spent the night in their old house, Winston bought a cake, they played their father’s favorite song and the stories they told each other didn’t hurt as much anymore, Evelyn was still frustrated by the fact that they hurt at all after fifteen years but they did. They laid in front of the hearth listening to the old tune playing on the phonograph, it was grating on Evelyn’s nerves but Winston seemed happy enough until he fell asleep, Evelyn watched him for a long while until he started twitching, he still had nightmares, Evelyn stroked the forming furrows on her brother’s forehead, wishing she could smooth them away they had no place on her cheerful brother’s face but it looked like they weren’t going anywhere anytime soon, she leaned back supporting her weight with her free hand and stared into the hearth, these days she didn’t feel numb or angry. Evelyn felt… Well, she wasn’t sure how she felt.

It was as indistinct as the annoying tune she was listening to but it was always present and gnawing like an angry creature fighting to be heard, Evelyn chose to ignore it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figured it was highly implied the Deavors mother's committed suicide after all dying of actual heartbreak is fairly rare isn't it?

**Author's Note:**

> Well this is a sadder story, but it's a lot more "condensed" than my other stories and I'm interested in imagining what exactly happened in that backstory we don't see too much of on screen. Since the novelization states their father died during their "childhood" I picked 15 for this story, I can't really imagine them being any younger especially since Winston was training with Dicker.


End file.
